An integer is added to the end of the legacyExchangeDN attribute of a newly created mailbox in Exchange 2007

Consider the following scenario. In a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 environment, when an administrator uses the Exchange Management Console to perform a remove operation on a mailbox, the corresponding user object is also deleted. However, if the administrator later creates a new mailbox that has the same name as the removed mailbox, an integer is added to the end the legacyExchangeDN attribute of the newly created mailbox. For example, a 1 is added to the end of the legacyExchangeDN attribute of the newly created mailbox. Therefore, if an application uses the legacyExchangeDN attribute to determine an object, some third-party backup applications and restore applications do not function successfully.

Note This problem does not occur with other properties.

When the Recipient Update Service processes a newly created user, the Recipient Update Service creates the legacyExchangeDN attribute. Additionally, the Recipient Update Service makes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) search call with the legacyExchangeDN attribute to find any duplicates. The current function does not exclude discontinued objects. Therefore, the duplicate object is found in the removed mailbox. Then, an integer is added to the end of the legacyExchangeDN attribute of the new user.

Note The integer starts at 1.

Note This issue is fixed in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

To resolve this problem, install Exchange Server 2007 SP1 or Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007.

For more information about Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about the terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about the naming schema for Exchange Server software updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: